The Arts

26 - Say Amen (Saturday Night)

MATT

His very lifeline to his best friend was hanging on by the thinnest of threads, maybe even cut completely. But he couldn't focus on that right now.

Gianna's charity was in trouble. He hadn't spent an exorbitant amount of time with her, but she was Tony's twin sister. What was important to Tony and his family was important to Matt.

As Andi was defending her case against Kiara's snippy accusation, the gears were turning in Matt's brain, trying to come up with some type of plan.

Suddenly, the stage lights lit up, and everyone turned to face Marty, Jacob, and Henry onstage. Kiara and Andi both audibly gasped. Robbie made a small croaking sound, like a wail was trying to escape his throat but got stuck on his vocal chords.

"Happy homecoming, everyone. We're Extended Vacation," Marty announced into the microphone. The crowd of students clapped and cheered. The band launched into a cover of All-American Rejects' "Dirty Little Secret."

How fitting. What with every single band member lying and keeping secrets from each other. Robbie lying about his reasons for keeping Andi in the band. Matt lying about the length of time he planned on staying in the band. And Andi lying about her ability to even be a competent member of the band.

"Let me know that I've done wrong,
"When I've known this all along.
"Go around a time or two,
"Just to waste my time with you."

"Okay. We've got maybe 20 minutes to figure this out. The Flaming Wolves are performing after Extended Vacation," Andi was saying. Matt's focus snapped back to the task at hand.

"Oh, don't you dare try to act like you're on our side now. No way are you going on with us," Robbie snarled.

"I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing this for them," Andi said, gesturing to Gianna and Ivan. "Go ahead and hate me if you want to, but can we agree to tolerate each other for just a few minutes if it means helping out a student-led charity?"

"She's right. I have an idea," Matt spoke up, and all the heads snapped in his direction.

"Tell us what you need us to do," Ivan said.

Matt looked around at the group before him: a passionate musician, an outspoken artist, a determined songwriter, a feisty cheerleader, a newly-popular content creator, and him. All in a tangle of twisted spats that they were willing to set aside for the greater good. Yeah, on their own they had their issues, but at least they could work together when the situation called for it.

Hopefully, the task of finding Tyler and getting the money back from him could be completed before The Flaming Wolves were expected to go on.

"Okay. We're gonna have to split up to cover more ground. Ivan and Gianna, check the bathrooms and the food table, places that get a lot of traffic. Try to get a hold of Tony and have him help you. Robbie and Kiara, buy us more time. See if you can get them to announce the homecoming king and queen early. Andi, come with me."

"Where are you going?" Robbie asked.

"We're gonna check Tyler's dorm. We'll try to be quick, but everyone's rooms are halfway across campus. That's why we need more time," Matt answered.